Stiff-pole attachment for vehicles.



No. 785,368. PATENTEDMAR. 21, 1905.

P. L. MEOKBL.

STIFP POLE ATTACHMENT FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1904.

2 SHEETS SHEET. 1.

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No. 785,368. PATENTED MAR. 21, 1905. F. L. MECKBL.

' STIFF POLE ATTACHMENT FOR VEHICLES. APPLIGATION FILED NOV. 7, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- NITE STATES FREDERICK L. MECKEL,

Patented March 21, 1905.

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 785,368, dated March 21, 1905.

Application filed November '7, 1904. Serial No. 231,661.

To (tZZ 1071,0177, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK L. MnoKnL, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stiff-Pole Attachments for Vehicles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a novel stifi-pole attachment for vehicles, and designed more especially for three-spring-gear vehicles in which the front spring is a cross and generally an elliptical spring. The attachment may,however, be used on vehicle-gears of other types.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide means for substituting a stiff pole on a gear of this kind in lieu of the usual droppole and in such manner that stress due to weight and leverage of the pole is transmitted to parts of the gear that are well adapted to withstand such stress and without danger of rocking such parts.

A further object of the inventionds to provide an attachment of this character which may be readily fitted to and removed from the gear, so that the stiff pole and its attachment may be readily replaced by a pair of shafts or a drop-pole, if the latter change is desired.

The term stiffpo le is designed to designate a pole which is attached to the gear in a manner to project rigidly therefrom, and thereby relieve the horses from the work of carrying the outer end of the pole, while the term drop-pole is used to designate a pole that is hinged to the gear, usually by means of coupling to the axle, and the weight of the outer end of which is thrown on the necks of the horses.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of the front end of a three-spring gear, the spring being broken away, showing my attachment in place thereon. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof with the doubletree and its attachment omitted. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View of the parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the socketframe for the stiff pole and showing also the forward ends of the side brace-rods constituting part of the attachment and the doubletree in place. Figs. 5 and 6 are details of the couplings for attaching the attachment to the front axle of the gear. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the king-bolt detached from the other parts.

As shown in the drawings, A designates the composite front axle of a vehicle-gear; B, the head-block; C, the front transverse elliptical spring; D, the spring-bar, and E the reach. The spring C is attached to the head-block by the usual clips C, the screw-threaded ends of the clips projecting at their upper ends through a clip-plate C extending across the upper face of the lower. half of the spring C, and is made integral with the top reach iron or brace C The fifth-wheel consists of the usual bottom or D plate F, attached to the axle, and the top plate F, attached to thehead-block and reach. The king-bolt G extends downwardly through the head-block, the two members of the tiftl1\vheel and the axle, and also through the front end or head 7b of the kingbolt brace H. Said king-bolt is provided with a transverse or T head, Fig. 7, which is countersunk in the upper face of the headblock B. The foregoing-mentioned parts of the gear may be made of any of the familiar or other types, it being understood that my pole attachment is not restricted in its application to any special form of gear.

My pole attachment is designed to facilitate the attachment of a stiff pole for a drop-pole, and the attachment is so arranged that it may be readily detached from the gear when it is desired to replace the same by a pair of shafts and without disturbing or loosening any of the permanent parts of the gear construction.

This is conveniently accomplished by providing the attachment with side brace-bars having eyes that are adapted to be connected with the usual shaft or pole couplings fixed to the axle, and the attachment also embraces means located between said side braces for rigidly connecting the attachment with the central front part of the gear in such manner that the stress due to the weight of the pole projecting outwardly from and supported by the attachment is transmitted to the rigid parts of the gear, which are constructed to withstand such stress withoutdiability of said parts becoming racked.

In the use of gears of the character referred to (more especially light delivery wagon gears) with drop poles connected with the usual shaft or pole couplings at the front axle of the gear it has been a common practice to partially support the weight of the drop-pole in order to relieve the necks of the horses from said weight by means of a suitable support, as a chain or spring device, attached at one end to the pole and its other end to the gear, usually to the front spring-bar. The leverage exerted by the pole when supported in this manner tends to draw the upper part of the spring and the body forwardly, so that the body does not ride squarely on the front spring. Such a defect is highly objectionable for the reasons, first, that it tends to disarrange the leaves of the front spring and rack the same at the spring-eyes thereof in a manner to unduly wear the spring-eyesand the bolts by which the parts of the spring are held together, and, secondly, such forward tilting of the spring and body tends to loosen the attachment of the front spring to the gear and body and also derange the fastening of the body to the rear springs. I propose to apply a stiff-pole attachment to a gear of this character,which is so constructed as to transmit the stress due to the leverage of the pole on the gear to the solidly-built parts of the gear beneath the spring and one which is so constructed as to be attached to and removed from the gear without disturbing any of the permanent parts of the gear and which may be substituted for a pair of shafts with but little more expenditure of time and labor than required for substituting the ordinary droppole for a pair of shafts.

I have herein illustrated a practical embodiment of the invention; but it will be understood that the structural details may be varied Within the scope of my invention.

Referring now in detail to said illustrated embodiment of my invention, it is made as follows: I designates as a whole what may be termed a pole-socket, which receives the rear end of astiff pole J. Said socket-frame consists in the present instance of two side members 1, herein shown as made of wood. Said side members are separated at the front end of the frame to constitute the forwardlyopening mouth of the socket, and the socket is herein shown as closed at its rear end by a transversely-curved part i, Fig. 3. The upper faces of said side members of the frame are covered by aplate consisting, as herein shown, of two side parts z" i, joined at their rear ends by a connectingpart 3, which overlies the the inner faces of the side members of said socket-frame. Transverse plates or bars 2' 1? d extend between said side members of the socket-frame and are bolted or otherwise secured thereto. The pole J is held in position by means of a lock-pin N, extending through the upper and lower plates i and adapted to pass through a suitable registering aperture in the pole. The construction described possesses strength combined with durability; but the details of such construction are not regarded in themselves essential.

The socket-frame is supported by the front part of the gear by the following construction: K K designates two side braces or supports which are attached at their forward ends to the socket-frame and extend rearwardly and outwardly therefrom and are provided at their rear ends with eyes Zr, which are attached to the usual shaft-couplings a. near the ends of the front axle A. The said bracerods K are formed at their forward ends to provide flanges or heads Z2 and are attached to the socket-frame by means of screw-bolts In. I designates an arm or brace extending rear wardly from the socket-frame and is preferably made integral with the forked top plate of said frame. The rear end of said arm is attached rigidly to a part which is rigid with the head-block and also with the top reachiron C Such attachment may be effected in a variety of ways. As herein shown, the clip-plate U is provided with a rigid upright stud C and the arm I is provided at its end with an eye 2' which fits over said stud. The upper end of said stud is screw-threaded, and the arm is fixed to the stud by a screw-threaded nut, which engages the screw-threaded end of the stud.

In addition to the side braces K a central brace L is desirably provided and is located beneath the arm 1 Said brace L is provided at its lower end with an eye Z, which is attached to a device a, similar to a shaft-coupling, which is attached to the central part of the front axle by means of bolts a Said brace is forked, the upper ends of its arm Z being attached to the under side of the socket-frame by means of bolts Fig. 3.

The construction described affords an exceedingly rigid connection of the pole-socket frame with the front part of the vehicle-gear.

The stress due to the lever action of the pole is transmitted to strongly-braced parts of the gear, and the tendency to rack the same is greatly minimized as compared to the action of an ordinary drop-pole used under the conditions hereinbefore mentioned.

A feature of value in the construction described is that while admirably adapted to support a stiff pole without exerting any injurious strain on, the vehicle-gear it is capabio of ready attachment to and removal from the gear. In other words, said attachment when'in place constitutes, in effect, apart of the gear, so far as is concerned the coaction of the parts to mutually and properly receive the stresses due to the lever action of the pole and at the same time-may be removed almost as readily as an ordinary drop-pole or a pair of shafts.

It will be noted that the pole and its socket is located in line with the reach and that said socket-frame and the reach are mutually braced from above and below, whereby is established a circuit of stress which does not influence the spring or its connection with the gear or body until such stress is sufficient to materially bend the reach, and in the usual gear such bending of the reach will not occur. It will be further observed that,as herein shown, the upright stud (1* is in line with the king-bolt, so that the pivoted point of the brace or arm I is coaxial with that of the axle. The said stud (J or its equivalent may, however, be located in front or rear of the axis of the king-bolt while still preserving the concentric relation of the king-bolt and the stud.

The doubletree M is connected with the forward end of said socket-frame by means of a bolt M extending downwardly through the lower cross-plate 2' of said frame, the doubletree, and an eye in the forward end of ahammer-strap 2 formed integral with the lower cross-plate 71 of the socket-frame, as shown in Fig. 3.

I claim as my invention 1. A stiff-poleattachment for vehicle-gears, comprising a pole-receiving socket-frame, a doubletre hinged centrally to said frame,and

means for removably and rigidly attaching said frame to the gear in front of the front axle thereof.

2. Astiff-pole attachment for vehicle-gears, comprising a pole-receiving socket-frame and means forattaching the frame to the gear comprising braces provided at their rear ends with eyes designed for detachable connection with the shaft-couplings on the front axle of the gear.

3. A stiii' pole attachment for vehicle-gears, comprising a pole-receiving socket-frame and means for attaching the frame to the gear comprising braces provided at their rear ends with eyes designed for detachable connection with the shaft-couplings on the front axle of the gear, and upper and lower braces or arms connectedv at their forward ends with the socket-frame and adapted for connection at their rear ends with rigid parts of the gear located in line with the reach thereof.

at. A stiff-pole attachment for vehicle-gears comprisinga pole-receiving socket-frame, and means for attaching the frame to the gear, comprising upper and lower braces extending rearwardly from the frame, the lower brace being provided with an eye designed for connection with a coupling attached to the axle in line with the king-bolt of the frame, and the upper brace or arm being hinged to a stud rigid with the head-block of the frame, and lateral braces attached at their forward ends to and extending rearwardly from the socketframe and provided with eyes designed for connection with the shaftcouplings on the front axle of the gear.

5. A stiff-pole attachment for vehicle-gears, comprising a polereceiving socket frame, brace-bars attached at their forward ends to said frame and provided at their rear ends with eyes designed for attachment with the shaft-couplings of the front axle of the gear, and an arm or brace extending rearwardly from said socket-frame and adapted for pivotal connection to the gear between the shaftcouplings thereof.

6. A stiff-pole attachment for vehicle-gears, comprising a pole -receiving socketframe,

side braces attached at their forward ends to the frame and provided at their rear ends with eyes designed for coupling engagement with the shaft-couplings of the front axle of the gear, a brace extending rearwardly from the socket-frame and detachably connected at its rear end to a part on the front axle of the gear in line with the reach of the gear, and an arm projecting rearwardly from the socketframe and adapted for connection with a part of the gear rigid with the head-block thereof.-

7. A stiff-pole attachment for vehicle-gears, comprising a pole-receiving socket-frame and means for attaching the same to the gear, comprising lateral braces fixed at their forward ends to the socket-frame and provided at their rear ends with eyes designed for connection with the shaft-couplings on the front axle of the gear, and a central rigid connection for said socket-frame comprising upper and lower parts connected rigidly with the rear end of said frame and adapted for connection with the gear at vertically-separated points.

8. In avehicle-gear, the combination with the axle provided with shaft-couplings, the

head-block and the front spring attached to said head-block by clips, of a stiff-pole attachment comprising a pole receiving socketframe located in front of the axle, lateral braces attached to and extending rearwardly and laterally from said socket-frame and provided at their rear ends with eyes designed for connection with shaft-couplings on the axle, an arm extending rearwardly from said frame and provided at its rear end with an eye and a stud rising from the crossbar of said springattaching clips and extending through said eye of said arm and attached thereto.

9. In a vehicle-gear, the combination with the axle provided with shaft-couplings, the head-block and the front spring attached to said head-block by clips, of a stiff-pole attachment comprising a pole -receiving socketframe located in front of the axle, lateral braces attached to and extending rearwardly and laterally from said socket-frame and provided at their rear ends with eyes designed for connection with shaft-couplings on the axle, an arm extending rearwardly from said frame and provided at its rear end with an eye, a stud rising from and integral with the cross-bar of said spring-attaching clips and extending through said eye of said arm and attached thereto, and a second brace or arm extending rearwardly from the lower side of the brace and fixed at its rear end to the front axle in line with the said stud.

10. A stiif-pole attachment for vehicle-gears,

FREDERICK L. MEGKEL.

WVitnesses:

HAROLD Gr. BARRETT, W'ILLIAM GOLDBERGER. 

